This is the story of how Breitbart News’ DC bureau chief, Matt Boyle, went from an outsider ridiculed for his awkward mien and his activist tendencies to one of the best-wired reporters in town. A must-read about the new Washington.

Long before the rise of Donald Trump made it fashionable for liberals to talk about moving to red states, Paul Yandura and Donald Hitchcock blew up their careers in politics, decamped to a tiny town near the Lost River Valley, and started turning it into a weekend destination. It’s a great story of a turnaround—unless you’re one of their neighbors.

Donors all over America thought they were helping a military charity. Pols all over Washington thought they were hobnobbing with a VIP. But not only was he not a legitimate fundraiser for military families, he wasn’t even Bobby Thompson. Daniel Fromson went inside the epic hunt to catch one of the country’s biggest con men.

No ever confused the highway ringing Washington with a scenic nature trail. But on a six-day hike along its periphery, this born-and-bred Washingtonian found moments of surprising beauty, tolerated excruciating blisters, and learned quite a lot about his hometown.

For decades, the Greenbrier, upper left, has provided jobs to White Sulphur Springs, the town down the hill. Photograph by Sam Dean.

In June of 2016, a historic flood lashed White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, a town that’s home to a resort that draws Washington’s rich and powerful as well as the staff who take care of them. Elaina Plott decamped to the Greenbrier to report on how what happened afterward surprised everyone.

Her son was a celebrity, the little boy poet with a devastating disease who earned a following around the world. Fighting that same illness—and now, a constellation of other afflictions—the Rockville resident looks back on what a brief but wondrous thing it was to be Mattie Stepanek’s mom.

The interior of a Gifford’s in Arlington. Photograph courtesy of Andrew Gifford.

For generations of Washingtonians, Gifford’s was synonymous with wholesome fun. Ever after the chain collapsed amid allegations of financial impropriety, a strong of entrepreneurs sought to revive the beloved brand. But as Ashley Powers found out, the last surviving member of the dynasty says the real history of Gifford’s was more sinister than anyone knew.

Kristen Hinman has been editing Washingtonian’s features since 2014. She joined the magazine after editing politics & policy coverage for Bloomberg Businessweek and working as a staff writer for Voice Media Group/Riverfront Times.